McDonald's promotes exec to COO

(Crain's) — McDonald's Corp. announced today that Tim Fenton has been named the company's chief operating officer, taking over for Don Thompson when he ascends to CEO.

Mr. Fenton, 54, has been with McDonald's for nearly 40 years, starting his career as part of a Utica, N.Y., restaurant crew. He is president of McDonald's Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa division and will assume the role of chief operating officer July 1.

Mr. Fenton is considered one of McDonald's "most seasoned global leaders and has done a remarkable job growing our international business," Mr. Skinner said in a press release. Mr. Thompson called Mr. Fenton a "superb operations leader" in the release.

Mr. Fenton has held several leadership positions in McDonald's including heading up the east division of the company's U.S. restaurants. As president of McDonald's Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa unit, he is in charge of nearly 9,000 restaurants in 37 countries.

Mr. Fenton fills a skill gap for Mr. Thompson as he takes over a company with the majority of its revenue coming from outside the U.S.

“That was the one knock that people had on Don when he was promoted to chief operating officer was he had less international experience than what some of his predecessors had,” said Sara Senatore, New York-based senior analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. LLC.